Category: Hiking

Still in the warm August heat, but not quite so hot now, this hike repeated the ascent of the Pointe de Poêle Chaud also made on hikes of 31 Aug 23, 28 May 22, and 2 Nov 2020 with 31 May 2020 (the latter both Swiss section only).

Seven of us appeared at the five star car park at La Givrine on a fine morning, variously Ross, Thatcher, Mervyn, Nathan, RichardW, Andrew and me, and Kobie. I had apologies from quite a number of folk, most seemed genuine. We missed you all.

My plan was to ascend via my “secret” path to the col just right of the Pointe de Fin Château, then ascend the ridge to the PdPC, down to the Col de Porte and ascend to a recent lunch spot near La Barillette.

This ascent has the advantage of having morning shade.

It was sad to me to find out that, like Kathy Kirby, the Secret Path was not secret any more. We met a couple coming down and then were overtaken by a sizeable organized and fit-looking hiking group going up. The forest was cool, dank and green.

However we re-overtook that team when they stopped for a rest, and on breaching the col we found another 15 rucksacks stashed under a tree. A second team were clearly out taking in the views on the PdFC. We did not let this unexpected traffic dampen our spirits as we ascended in clear air the ridge to the PdPC, where the sun was warming things up.

We were soon at our goal.

It was apèro time and Mervyn opened a bottle of chasselas, luxury.. and we took in the views and solved the world’s problems.

Onwards downwards to the Col de Porte where we eschewed the choice of summiting La Dôle again and instead headed down left past the Chalet des Apprentis.

Down at the dip we could see on the left the hardy and brave Bent Tree still showing some greenery.

A quick scramble up to the picnic spot that we found on 18 July when we had hiked up from the Barraque a Kuffer, with a fine view to the Dôle ridge and showing stick people in silhouette.

Lunch was most pleasant – as we had the choice of sun or shade, and Richard opened his screw-top bottle of rouge. More world problems were solved and Andrew did some paperwork. Others slept. Kobie filched some quiche.

After an hour or so of lounging in the sun and shade we packed up and headed up over to the Tower of Power (apparanetly a rock group Ross knows about).

We passed by the Barillette Restaurant without stopping for beer (again!) and descended towards the tricky section past Couvaloup de St Cergue and eventually back to the restoration at La Givrine.

We were sipping beers and coffee in time to witness a large crash on the tv in the Tour de France Femmes Zwift.

A very pleasant hike, 13.5km and 564m deniv (Nathan may have a different summary). Thanks for the fun and tolerating my hound, who had a great day out too.

PS That night the heavens opened in Coppet, 34 mm of rain in as many minutes.

We met a Divonne at 08;

45.

Participants: Nathan Finkelstein, Bill Westermeyer, Mark Warren, Drew Meek. Paul Dworjanynn, a visiting friend of Drew’s from Australia, joined us. He’d recently finished two months and 1600k walking the Camino and had lots of pilgrim’s tales to share.

At Divonne, Nathan was in discussion with Frank at the Refuge de la Loge about likely storm arrival and, on arrival, telecabine staff also gave warnings of storms. There was some concern about whether the telecabine would be running on our return for the descent and possible impact on scheduled  timings for some after the walk.

We arrived Lelex at 09:45. Telecabine up to top station.

It was hazy but there was a pleasant temperature for most of the hike. No rain was seen by the time we got to the telecabine to come down and after that, we didn’t care. It was so much hotter on return to Divonne so we were glad we’d spent the day in the mountains.

We started from the top station at 10:10. Our route followed the darker blue line on the map. Nathan led us up into the forest and away from the refuge to avoid any early stopping for beer or lunch.

We walked out of the denser forest to the Sous-crêt, arriving about 11:20

mark had indicated he wasn’t going to proceed to the Crêt de Neige. While the remainder of the party went on to the summit (round trip around 45m) Mark rested there for a while but also took a stroll up to the Brand Crêt for a view from 18m inferior to ours.

The path along from the Sous-crêt to the peak was quite rocky and I recall it being easier on a previous winter’s snowshoe outing. However, that trip didn’t have the wildflowers seen on this trip.

We arrived at the Crêt de Neige peak (1720m) at about 11:40

After returning to the Sous-crêt to reconnect with Mark, we headed down the main path to a point where Nathan consulted his e-thingy (around 12:30) and we diverted down a path les travelled , reportedly a short cut to the refuge.

It was a fairly steep descent with some parts of slippery scree to negotiate. Mark made a rapid descent to earth on his arse , losing a bit of bark on his elbows but there was not much claret.

Just after 1pm we reached the bottom of the diversion and headed across the fields till we hit the path leading to the refuge

We arrived around 13:15. There were many hikers there. A pair of women on the next table took our group photo. They were en route on a 100k, 5 day hike to Bellegarde.

Perhaps Mark’s earlier fall has some additional consequences as he had difficulty opening his beer cans, the second instance requiring Swiss army knife intervention to open the can after he pulled the ring pull off an unopened can.

Finally, sufficient amber fluid was consumed with our plats de jour (croque or pork brochette). This was followed by a whisky digestives before tartes myrtilles, coffee and genepi (the latter offerred by our hosts).

We left the refuge shortly before 3pm for a short walk to the top station, where, in the absence of storms, the telecabine was running. We arrived back at Lelex around 3:15. Nathan departed for his first aid duties back in Geneva. Thanks to him for organising a great day’s activity. The rest of us returned to Divonne.

Attending – all at Divonne except Rob, Drew and Rodney(who biked up !!)

1.Nathan

2. Mervyn

3. Drew

4. Rob

5. Mark 2rs

6. Mark 2ts

7. Ross

8. Nicolas and Onyx

9. Bill

10. Philip

11. Rodney

12. Peter and Kobie

I had received apologies from several – Peter Strebel in the Engadine, David Colledge and Thatcher – both in Villars, Stephen Long – child minding, Richard Saynor – knocked out by therapy, Peter Drew – clubbing in Berlin, Larry – abroad, Paul – with guests, and I knew others were away, so I was pleasantly surprised when the list grew to 12.

Chapeau first of all to Rodney who biked up. I had done that the day before to check parking, and at over 700m to the Baraque a Kuffer at 1142m on the Barillette Road, I can attest that this is penible.

The following rather useless heart rate map shows our anticlockwise track – the Barillette tower being above the “g” of “green”, lunch under “w” of “watch”

To cater for the assembled punters this was planned to be not a very challenging hike, 9km and 420m, but in the hot weather I think most found it acceptably sufficient for the day.

We set off from the sign on the road under which we parked the cars and bike:-

It was a warm day – for shorts – but Nathan and Drew were protecting their legs from ticks. I use the hairy dog protection method, sending Kobie first through the jungly trails.

The initial track led us gently upwards to underneath the Rochers de Pierre Lente. Is this slow Peter, or slow stone ? – please advise if you know.

We traversed a scree slope and across to where the path forked steeply upwards in the forest. One member complained that I had not mentioned that there was a vertical section in the hike. In truth it was steep for a while but not impassable and soon the slope eased and we were ambling up through sunlit glades.

It was not long before the Barillette restaurant was encountered. I believed this to be the crux of the whole route, how to get 12 thristy hikers to walk past a terrace of beer without stopping? The sign “COMPLET” helped, and my thinking was that we had enough alcohol in our sacks – sadly I was mistaken.

I urged the team not to linger and we passed on up.

We reached the Barillette Mast and although the views to the alps were a bit hazy, being the top of the hike there was some good cheer :-

We meandered down across to the path that leads to the Col de Porte, and stopped under the shade of a tree on the fresh grass for our lunch:-

It was a pleasant lunch spot. We drank a toast to the health of absent friends, especially Richard, but in veritas there was not a great deal of vino to be had. (Note – for future picnic hike leaders to pre-encourage a little more of the fruit of the vine to be carried and tasted up out in the fresh air). Thanks to those who did supply us though, and to Rob for Scottish fluid and Mark2ts for his hot strong black liquid, Mervyn for milk. Conversation flowed – I can only remember that Mervyn was to be blamed for something… I believe the dogs behaved, but let me know if mine stole your sandwich. We had great views of the Col de Porte and the Dôle ridge.

Time to be off and we traversed down and round through a field of cows – without incident with our hounds, I always prefer a direct approach (and with Kobie not on a leash – so he can run off):-

The journey back down involved wide tracks in the forest, the first of which had been decimated by a huge logging machine, unpleasant. All went well, albeit I somehow lost my dog-chewn straw hat (I’ll try and go back to find it soon).

Just before the cars, there was a choice of steep shortcut down through the forest or a trail to the road and down, each taken by equal numbers, and we all reached the cars within minutes of each other.

These are the good days. May there be many more.

Thanks to all for coming, and to drivers. And for coping with our hounds – I think they behaved pretty well though. Next hike in two weeks.

The sign up for the hike on the 4^th of July got off to a very slow start. Mark and I were beginning to think we were becoming the Millwall FC of the GIN group (Millwall is an English football club whose supporters are wont to chant ‘No one likes us but we don’t care’). Fortunately, the pace picked up and we were eight in principle but seven with a late withdrawal by Philip Jenkins. Hope you are feeling better Philip.

Getting to the Col du Marchairuz was not helped by a major redesign of the road network in Begnins which necessitated a fairly lengthy diversion. Worth bearing in mind if you are headed that way. Probably it will be one of those rush jobs beloved by the Swiss so like Versoix and Bellevue the road will probably only be blocked for a couple of years!

So Mark W, Nathan, Paul, Peter D, Rob, Ross and myself set off with Mike M and Nessie joining us for lunch. Rocco, my spaniel was planning to join but heard stories of fierce cows from Kobie and decided discretion was the better part of valour.

It was a brisk 15 degrees when we set off and, despite MeteoSuisses predictions, more than just overcast but actually raining. Fortunately the rain stayed light and eventually gave up altogether. We set off from the corner of the Hotel’s terrace, descending for a while before following the ridge south west. The vegetation was much remarked upon – dense was deemed insufficiently poetic, lush was considered but exuberant was settled on. The rain followed by warmth of the last few weeks has produced a huge amount of growth. The presence of snails and slugs was also notable and there was some discussion of snail farming. Photos exist of a bit of three way snail action taking place in the middle of the footpath but since this is a family blog with sensitive readers such as Peter T, I don’t propose to add them.

Given the plethora of elections taking place there was some discussion of politics. Rob professed optimism for the SNP’s prospects – plus ca change – while Mike H discovered that some deluded soul was standing in Putney for the ‘Rejoin the EU Party’ so voted for that. 288 people joined me in that and we came last! Rob’s favoured party did a little better (but not much!)

The route loops around south and then comes back north east towards the Hotel, in slightly better weather but not sufficiently better for us to consider eating outside. The interior dining room was packed and a good, mostly röesti lunch was had with appropriate liquid refreshment. This was followed by an historic apricot tart – worth the trip – was the general verdict. It was also agreed that a hike ending at a restaurant was a good plan with stiffened ancient legs having only the car park to traverse.

Much enjoyed by all participants and particularly by me since, for one reason or another, I haven’t managed to get to many walks this year.

All the best

Mike

P.S. When dropping Ross off in Coppet I spent 10 minutes in the Pas de Ian Fleming exhibition in the Mairie. There is not a huge amount there but it is interesting to learn of Fleming’s life in 1930’s Geneva, the use of Coppet as a location in the book Goldfinger and see contemporary photos. Closes soon.

20 June 2024

This was going to be a bit of touch and go. The weather forecast was iffy as well as being uncertain, but then I’m not so sure.. some softness was expected at first and a great deal of softness later.

9 hikers turned out at the parking at Tancouez near St Cergue just after 10 am on the second longest day of the year. Despite the forecast, there were no late withdrawals. My plan was to hike up to the Vermeilley Hut, then to the Carroz Hut and down to La Givrine returning on the little red train to St Cergue.

In no particular order we were :- Mervyn, Ross, Nicholas, Nathan, Marks 2ts and 2rs, Richard F, Peter S and me Peter T, with hounds Onyx and Kobie.

It was spitting with rain at the start but nine (Ok eleven) were mostly smiling :-

We paid for the parking (I had thought mistakenly that it was free there) and set off. Almost immediatley we entered a field of Alpine meadow flowers untouched by cattle herds – we were transported into Arcadia. With lifted spirits the misty rain seemed to disappear a little.

Upwards and onwards across cow pastures past Les Agozats and into the woods. The Leader was marked down a little for leading the team across/through a wire fence which required some acrobatic efforts to overcome – at least it was not electrified.

Once in the woods the rain became less of a factor and we were swiftly up past Mont Roux and into a section on the map marked as Pible à Gaudin. (I looked up “Pible” in Google and Chat GPT – it stumped them). Some gates with large latches followed and we reached a section which the leader had previously forewarned was “a little sketchy”. Encouragement was given to not lose heart, and off we set up into the wilderness, off trail. In fact the worst of it was the wet leaves of the greenery on the less than obvious and rather unused and sketchy path..

We were however soon up then down into Combe Froide, in our case Combe Damp.

Passing a farmer who advised cows were ahead we leashed the hounds and skirted round the electric fence to the Vermeilley Hut at 1320m. This is a nice eatery in winter but in summer it’s just a rather smelly cow hut, and although it was just after midday, it was not a suitable picnic spot. Besides, misty rain was blowing in still.

I must say I was impressed that there was not much of a mutiny when I urged us all on for another hour in search of the Carroz Hut where we might find a more suitable lunchery. After a bit of a tramp up the trans Jura Road we passed the same picnic spot where we had lunched three years before in sunshine, and I recall a bank of snow for the white wine.

We successfully reached the Carroz Hut at 1508m at 1pm or so, finding a work crew there doing remediation inside. Outside there was a choice, either sit at the nice new tables but somewhat exposed to the wind, or squat round the back on a low plank. We nearly all chose the former. Indeed it was breezy, but not too cold and the rain had stopped. Heck even the sun began to make an appearance.

We toasted absent friends with white and red, the dogs had pigs ears, sandwiches were munched in the wind, and finally we were treated to a magnificent view across the Lake to the Alps. These are the good days.

Forecast heavy rain had not materialsed – for once (again..) we were in luck. Realising we needed to get moving to catch the 14.48 train at La Givrine, the party was assembled for the downward trail.

The first half of this section involves a 2km gentle walk down through the most beautiful forests that the Jura have to offer. This area is well worth a visit.

We reached the road that leads to La Genolière (another winter hut for food but just a cowshed in summer) and turned right easily down to the station where we arrived with over 18 minutes to spare.

The train ride back to St Cergue preceded a short stroll back to the cars. Thanks to all who attended and for your forbearance in holding out til 1 pm for the lunch spot at Carroz which did the trick. And to him up there who provided some sun for our picnic. The rain came in later..

I received apologies from 10 or so including Rob, Thatcher, MikeH, MikeM, Rudi, Stephen, Bill, Philip, David and RichardS – I may have missed others. Sadly you all missed a decent hike in fine Jura country and Ok weather. 13.2 Km and 560m (thanks Nathan).

The weather had suddenly turned warm and out of the woodwork crawled the following 12 candidates for the Ascension Day picnic hike starting at Arzier at 10 ish.

Meeting at Divonne 9.30am

Richard S

Mark2rs

Philip

Mervyn

Nathan

Ralph

Mark2ts

Meeting at Arzier at 10am- ish

PeterT (plus Kobie)

Ross (travelling with PT)

RobP

Rudi

Larry 

There were apologies from Thatcher, PeterS, MikeM, and others had standing excuses (MikeH in the Med, Stephen in recovery mode, Bill away) etc. 

We welcomed Ross on his first hike. Ross lives in Coppet and hails from downunder (Aus). His interests include inter alia : mountaineering/climbing, hiking, motorbikes, guitar and playing the didgeridoo.

In the event only Ralph had braved the start with shorts, some other gintlemen having adaptable kit reverted to shorts later on.

We started up (heck it was Ascension Day) into the forest, steeply at first in the bright sunshine, but gradually the slope eased off and the usual early grumblings subsided.

The weather was indeed warming up and the sun shone through the trees as we reach the Charteuse d’Oujon – the ancient monastery in a clearing in the forest. We said our prayers and passed through the grassy walled sacred place in wonderment, but found we needed to scale the wall to exit.

Once back into the forest we continued up and into a field which we found contained a large herd of sedentary cows. It was not long before the situation changed and the back of our train were being stampeded down the track.

We escaped them and another herd without incident and headed on up towards the Fruitère de Nyon. The perceptive may have picked up that the Leader was (not lost but) wavering between various route options, although after a while it became obvious that we were going to be headed for Givrine rather than La Cure (as in 2021).

As time was passing (we were past the 1 pm lunch hard stop), a direct ascent was chosen to reach the Leader’s chosen lunch spot just down from Cabane Rochefort, the steep trajectory was much appreciated by Larry who was happy to be testing his heart.

We were blessed with an excellent array of waiters offering biscuits, crisps, vegetable dips, nuts, wines, coffees, and stonger liquids. Richard’s bottle contained Disaronno (for the record). It was remarked that here was a liquid that started with “dis” and ended with “no”; it tasted excellent. Sadly the view in front of us extended only to Lac Leman, as the Alps were behind white fluffy stuff. Some became sleepy in the warm sun.

At some point in the proceedings we drank a toast to absent friends. Discussions ranged between topics of world concern including independence efforts, to the price of carrots. All of a sudden another Cobberdog from the same breeder (DogKing in Barcelona) appeared, Poppy a miniature 2 year old. Kobie showed little interest as he was making steady progress in finding a way into Larry’s pack to access a remaindered salami sandwich.

It was at around 2.20 pm that the Leader realised that we would need to get packed up smartish and out on the trial to catch the 3.48pm train at La Givrine. A short hike up past Cabane Rochefort led to the pleasant forest trail back through a gap in the wall and past La Genolière at some distance. We were a little strung out, but needed to press on to make our train rdv. It was a pleasant walk up through grassy fields and then down the tarmac track to La Givrine (it was not possible to use the forest trails as the summer barbed wire fences were out in force). It was touch and go for the back markers, but we all made it in time and were soon ensconced in the train which took us to Arzier where we waved goodbye to Rob and Rudi who stayed on to descend further.

The sting in the tail was a 75m hike up from the train station to the cars. Altogether 14km and 700m, a little shorter than April 21 where we reached La Givrine, but we had a similar height gain.

PS That evening Kobie went to his basement bed as soon as he had had his foot wash at 5 pm. He reappeared the next morning. No supper needed. Larry’s sandwich (and happily not the plastic lid of his tin of nuts) had topped up all the other treats that he had cajoled from pickniking gintlemen. Thanks to all for the fun, and for putting up with my hound. PT

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Appendix 1 Chartreuse D’Oujon

Chartreuse is first of all the name of a mountain massif, which gave its name to a religious order which was founded there in the 11th century. This order founded monasteries (called Carthusian monasteries) around the world. Many are no longer in operation but the name has remained on the buildings or places. The nuns of this order are also called Chartreuse, a liqueur produced by monks, and other works directly or indirectly related to the history of the religious order. 

The Chartreuse Notre-Dame d'Oujon, founded in 1146, located in a clearing in the Jura in the territory of the commune of Arzier-Le Muids in Switzerland, is the oldest chartreuse in this country1. It was abolished in 1537 during the Reformation. Archaeological excavations undertaken in 1945 brought to light the remains of its buildings2.

The Carthusian Order, resulting from the second reform of Benedictine monasticism, was founded in 1084 in the mountainous massif of Chartreuse, above Grenoble in Dauphiné, by Saint Bruno, schoolmaster from Reims and German from Cologne. The founder seeks purity and devotion to God by isolating the monk from the influences of the outside world. Which explains the choice of isolated places to shelter the Carthusian communities. The very architecture of the monastery reflects the ideal of eremitic life of the community which generally has no more than a dozen monks. Each of them spends most of their time in their cell (small house with garden) and the common areas are designed on the model of those of the Benedictines.

The order spreads from the Chartreuse massif towards the north. The slopes of the Jura, then quite inhospitable, are sparsely populated and isolation is one of the qualities sought by the community. However, the site chosen around 1146 is not too far from a fairly important communication route leading to Saint-Cergue. The name Oujon undoubtedly comes from the topography of the place, the Latin word augio meaning “trough”. We do not know the precise date of the consecration of the Notre-Dame church. During its installation and over the centuries, the charterhouse received numerous donations, in particular from Olivier de Mont (Lord of Mont-le-Grand whose ruins of the castle are still visible on the territory of the current commune of Mont-sur-Rolle). The Chartreuse became an important lordship and sometimes came into territorial conflict with its neighbors, such as the lords of Mont and Genolier as well as the abbeys of Bonmont and Saint-Claude.

In 1306, the monastery founded the parish of Arzier.

A fire struck the Chartreuse in 1536, while the Reformation was raging in the country of Vaud under Bernese domination. The Carthusians, in 1537, then asked the Bernese representatives for authorization to rebuild, but this was refused. The last three monks were expelled8, which marked the end of the existence of the Carthusian monastery of Oujon, after four centuries of existence2. The ruins were gradually pillaged by the inhabitants of the region, so that only the foundations and a few walls were unearthed by the first archaeologists in 1945. The following excavations were undertaken in the 1970s. The site is now highlighted and can be visited; it is classified as a Swiss cultural property of national importance9. The furniture discovered during the excavations is preserved by the Nyon historical museum3.

Appendix 2 The Flyer was :-

“The weather is improving and 9 May is Ascension Day, which augurs well for those wishing to ascend.

I am therefore thinking of another start from Arzier, “up and over” and returning by train.

 See below – this might be 700m ascent (see below) and 13km, but I remember it being quite gentle. I’ll vary the route from last time, a little, and we could finish at La Givrine if desired (there is a bar there).

The start will be at the parking at What3Words   losing.hiding.outsiders  or  unhappily.rots.vines , in the bend of the road after Arzier just as it turns sharp left towards St Cergue. 

At 10 am -ish  on Thursday 9 May 24.

Those wishing to meet at Divonne at car pool should do so at 9.30am.

While we could lunch inside somewhere, as the weather forecast seems so good and the other Ascension day hikers will be out and eating at the huts, I propose a picnic. So please bring a picnic etc. 

We last did this walk on 15 April 2021 when there was still snow about up there. This time no masks needed, and I now know the train timetable like the back of my hand …

Please advise me by Weds evening if you are coming.

Likely I’ll be taking Kobie, on a leash. 

Best foot forward

Peter”

With the end of the snow-shoe season and our dear Snow-Shoe Leader in Dubai/on his way home from Australia, snow had returned to the Jura with a vengeance. After the daffodil visit two weeks ago, here was the white stuff again..!

Time then to return to Mamac near La Cure for a trifon or three!

12 signed up for this. Richards Saynor and Wiley, Roberts O’Riordan and Pashley, Peters Strebel and Taylor (blogger), Larry, Andrew, Philip, Mark2ts, David, Mervyn. No dogs !

I had advised that snow-shoes would not be necessary, and perhaps in the end this was just the case, but it was close. At one point we almost lost RobP in a drift.

We set off at 10.30 am or so from La Givrine having set our Easypark Apps to pay the arm-and-a-leg at the parking (there were very few others). The initial direction was vaguely towards La Genolière but at the forest we set off up left towards the Pré du Four chalet.

At one point a cattle grid appeared in the road, with a little snow on the bars. Larry decided to show us how to perform a Canadian forward roll after trying to use his sticks in the middle of the grid as he tottered forward. Happily he rolled over onto the far side of the grid with only his pride hurt and a stick down in the grid. Larry “Cattle Grid” French he will be. Philip was about to try to repeat this feat but we managed to dissuade him.

We soon safely reached the Pré du Four (1395m and our high point) where we found a suitable sofa..

It was time for Apèros and Larry had brought a bottle from near Morges (not broken in the Canadian Roll), plus nuts ! And some rosé appeared. And RichardS was still hawking the Poire William of Daffodil hike fame.

As we were enjoying our libations a section of the chalet roof’s covering of snow and ice came loose and careered down on startled drinkers who managed to jump out of the way. Happily not much was spilt. Second safety incident survived.. phew!

Happily there was no rush to get to the restaurant as we had plenty of time, so we gradually reformed and set off downwards to Les Coppettes in thickening snow, that must have drifted.

As we descended the snow level reduced and it became quite pleasant. On the right we noticed some eery and snowy shapes, the subject of some conjecture.

Whatever they were, we were allowed safe passage and soon were down at Mamac.

Beers, wines and trifons duly arrived, with bread and boiled potatoes. A couple of our team went for the healthy option – sausage and lentils.

There was much discussion and banter, dictums and Keats, even Shakespeare quotations. Suffice to say that it will remain in confidence.

RobertO left early to catch a train, while the remnant 11 took coffee and then trundled out in still reasonably bright but cold conditions for the final trek back up to the cars. On the way nobody fell over, for a change.

Thanks to Mark for the final coffees !

A fine hike, repeating almost that of 1 February when the Snow-Shoe Team found only grass. 10.5km and 321m.

I must have missed essential events/discussion points/dictums etc. Would participants please add them in leaving their comments.

This was the start of the hiking season, following the ending of the snow shoe season at the end of March.

Mark2ts had checked out the daffodils a few days earlier (before the snow returned) and had written:-

“Gentlemen,

I will lead the hike next Thursday. It will be from la Givrine to Sonnailley via La Dôle. 

Distance 14km, height gain ~700m.

The intent is to see the daffodils at Sonnailley close to being at their best. I’ve tried this hike the last 2 years but been too late each time so we’ve been met with a host of golden dandelions. Hopefully this time will be better. I was there yesterday and they were close to being in full bloom.

I assume this is suitable for dogs. The cows are not yet up there so the fences should not yet be energised. “

This seemed a good promise but at least one member was not a believer and had written :-

“Well, there weren’t any daffodils on the last two occasions so I’m going to pass this time.

Besides. it’s still the ski season and I’ll be in Saas Fee.”

Clearly, while the fences were not energized, neither was the Hiking Group and there must have been a number of other non-believers because only four and a dog signed up. The absentees missed a fabulous outing.

It was cold and windy but sunny as we fiddled with the parking apps at La Givrine (it was over CHF10 per car for 10 am to 4 pm or so). Attending :-

Flower expert – Mark2ts with RichardS, Nathan and Kobie and me (PeterT).

There was now snow in sight as we set off – but this would change as we ascended past Couvaloup (FERMÉ) and up the trails to the upper ski slope. Added to the cold was the wind which rose as we rose. Happily I found that I had at least one glove, whereas Richard (who rarely uses them) had none.

We found ourselves at the foot of the North Face of La Dôle, but it somehow seemed a bit more serious than just that, in the biting wind. This was verging on a snow shoe outing without snow shoes.

We made steady progress up the interminable snow slope, passing a man with his 5 year old grandson, clearly being hardened for higher things. The north wind was cold and strong.

At least the wind seemed to die down a little in the lee of the ridge and the snow was fresh and powdery. Once out onto the summit by the radar dome there was a sudden appearance of grass and a warmer feel.

It was in the partial lee of the wind, by the radar dome, that a bottle of Luins appeared as well as a number of crunchy apèros. The view was spectacular. Somewhere out there a GIN skier was sliding down a mountain instead of having a snifter with us. We drank to the health of Harry who was having a surgical procedure that day.

Now that the hard part was done we were able to relax a bit and we hopped and skipped along the summit path and down the ridge towards the French border (and the location of our famous June 2020 encounter).

As we exited the forest and among the crocuses we looked over the valley to the promised daffodil fields, but from this distance we could see no bright yellow flutterings at all. Just a bit of lighter green.

It was not long however before we began to have hallucinations – were those indeed the daffodils coming into focus? As we approached the unexpected bunches increased until a full host of golden daffodils enveloped us. We had succeeded on the third attempt, to find the holy golden grail.

We reached the Yellow Hill of the promised land for lunch where we settled down among the bunches.

It was a sunny spot, the wind had died down and the sun was shining and warming us. A pleasant sandwich lunch followed, washed down with white, red and Poire Williams. We raised a glass to the health of absentees, the majority of the hiking group…

Kobie had his own food but that did not stop him attempting to acquire more. Nathan fell asleep at one point. It was a very pleasant lunch spot. As good as it gets. And then Mark brought out his strong, black, unsweetened coffee.

It was after an hour or so of sun soaking that we heaved oursleves onto our feet and set off up the very pleasant trail that led back towards La Givrine. The wooded and stony trail is very pleasant here and with the warm sun and easy slope we enjoyed a pleasant stroll back up and over to Couvaloup. It was here that we could have had a beer or coffee, but it was closed.

We hobbled back down to the vehicles, our backs warmed by the sun. We had toiled through cold wind and snow up to the sunshine, a warming afternoon and had indeed seen the holy grail of the hosts of daffodils.

Indeed about 14km and close to 700m give or take – but Richard reckoned it was 681m. Thanks Mark for a great hike and for providing proof that the yellow wonders do indeed exist around Sonnailleys.